Musings and observations of things going on that I feel compelled to comment on.

• 25May 09

  GameSpot's Crybaby Moderators

  Seems GameSpot is staffed by a bunch of crybabies. Any comment made that in any way calls into question GameSpot's editorial integrity, as if they have any left, is immediately deleted and you get a ToS warning. I have no idea what these warnings indicate, other than someone cried about something I wrote. Or someone might cry about something I wrote, so GameSpot decided that my commenbt needed to be removed before someone's delicate sensibilities were horribly offended and they become emotionally scarred for life. Too freakin' bad for them! Grow up and get a life already!

  Same goes for giving your opinion on games published exclusively for a single platform. I don't own a PS3, I will never own a PS3 and I could not care less about anything to do with the PS3, except laugh my butt off when Sony's firmware releases need to be patched immediately because they're so freakin' incompetent. My views on the PS3 have nothing to do with the platform itself, it has to do with my intense hatred of all things Sony. This hatred stems from the rootkit incident a few years ago, Sony's continuing contempt for their customers and Sony's misguided belief that they can do whatever they want to whomever they wish at any time they choose.

  As for platform exclusives themselves, I think they are a mistake. I do not believe that limiting the audience for a game is going to be good for the game, the developer, the publisher or the industry in the long run. All it manages to do is foster the fanboi behavior that seems to be the reason comment sections exist on GameSpot. Yet GameSpot is afraid someone's feelings might be hurt by a fanboi-like post, so they nuke those as fast as they can. It's like encouraging the behavior, but giving someone an electric shock when they do what they're being encouraged to do and it makes just as much sense as you think it does.

  Now, GameSpot's editorial integrity, or what they call editorial integrity. Yes, it has gotten somewhat better. Not a lot, but some. I'll believe they spots on this leopard have changed the day I see something resembling an objective review of a title that has major advertising on the site. Something like a 6.5/10 for Red Dead Redemption or the next Call of Juarez title because there are flaws in those games that keep the player from enjoying them. Until that happens, I'll take every review on GameSpot with a grain or fifty of salt and that goes triple for previews and hands-on articles that do nothing but gush over how wonderful everything is in the title being discussed.

  • Posted May 25, 2009 7:24 am PT
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• 12Oct 07

  I Will Not Buy The Orange Box

  I will not be buying the Orange Box. I really like Half-Life 2 and Episode 1. I have already purchased them once so that I could play them whenever I want to. I do not feel the need to purchase them again just to get Episode 2. I don't care about Team Fortress 2 and I don't care about Portal. I was willing to buy the Black Box to get Episode 2, but there is no way in Hell that I am going buy the Orange Box and end up with another copy of HL2 and Episode 1! Everyone I know that wanted HL2 already has it, so I would be stuck with additional copies, which amounts to wasted money. I hate wasting money, so that isn't going to happen.
  • Posted Oct 12, 2007 11:11 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 21Jun 07

  Manhunt 2

  The ESRB handed Rockstar an Adults Only (AO) rating for their upcoming title "Manhunt 2". Because this title was only coming out on Sony and Nintendo systems, which do not permit AO-rated games for their systems, Rockstar has a limited set of options available to them. In case you're wondering, Microsoft does not allow AO games for its consoles, either.

  Option one, which would be a best case scenario for Rockstar, is to appeal the ESRB rating and win an Mature (M) rating for Manhunt 2. An M rating would allow the game to be released as scheduled.

  Option two would be to tone the game down enough to make it to the M territory. This would mean a delay in the release of the game, but the game would eventually be released. Given the nature of this game, this may not be a realistic option.

  Option three, rework the game and release it on the PC. It will still have an AO rating, which would keep it out of just about every retail outlet on Earth, but it could potentially be sold via digital distribution channels or Take-2 could sell it directly to consumers.

  The option I'd like to see Rockstar and Take-2 choose is what I call Option four. Option four is to not release the game at all and seek some counselling for the issues that are clearly sitting at a slow boil in the employees of Rockstar and Take-2.

  Why do I say that? Because no one in their right mind would think a "game" where the object is to maim, torture and kill people for fun is a game that should be made, let alone played. Yes, many other games feature killing the enemy. Those games, however, usually have an objective above and beyond mass murder for the sake of committing mass murder, such as rescuing hostages, saving the country and saving the world.

  Manhunt 2 has no redeeming value. It does not make a socially relevant statement. It is in no way "pushing the envelope". Manhunt 2 is nothing more than an exercise in extremely poor taste on the part of the developers and extremely bad judgement on the part of Take-2. I am completely against censorship, but I am equally against just plain senseless.

  • Posted Jun 21, 2007 9:59 am PT
  • Category: Games
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